Canceled

the metastatic breast cancer journey banner

No, I’m not talking about the current cancel culture, although that would be a lively blog I’m sure. I’m writing about my infusion, which was supposed to take place today.

We had some wicked snow storms in Texas last week. It is the worse I’ve ever seen it. We got several inches and built a snowman! The snow stayed on the ground all week. MD Anderson was closed the entire week.

I can only assume they have been a bit behind on paperwork. I was caught in the cracks as my yearly pre-authorization was up and needed to be renewed. They tried to get the pre-authorization from my insurance company, but could not get it in time for treatment. We are leaving on a trip, so we won’t be able to get it until March. Then we have to reload…

It is what it is. It will be six weeks between treatments, but I feel fine. So I am not worried.

À la prochaine … until next time.

Double Vision and Prism

I just got a call from my radiation oncologist. My brain MRI came back clean. No new lesions or growth. I’m on an every 4 month schedule now. Praise the Lord!


On another note, I saw my optometrist who said I have double vision. Maybe I’ve had this a while. In the past I said, “yes” when asked if I was seeing two charts next to each other, but I never told him one was higher than the other. Note to self…point out the obvious, even if they don’t ask. He asked if the charts are side by side. Well, they were, but they weren’t aligned vertically. I pointed this out and then he said, “let’s talk about that.” So, now I have a new prescription for glasses with prism. 🤓

I’ve been out of glasses for a few years now, due to cataract surgery (except I do need readers). I was a bit disappointed with the prospect of wearing glasses 24-7 again, but at least now I won’t have to look for my readers!

That likely explains the occasional dizziness. 😔 I’ve never heard of a prism issue. He said I probably lean my head to the side to compensate, so I maybe never really noticed. This could account for the neck and shoulder pain. I recall a chiropractor telling me I lean my head to one side way back in early 2000s. He said it was a back alignment issue, and adjusted me. Who knows? Like I said, maybe I’ve had this a while. Or maybe it’s new.

The two are likely not related, although brain issues can impact vision. My radiational oncologist is going to send the MRI result to my optometrist and see if he needs anything else. MD Anderson does a whole brain MRI with and without contrast whenever they do it. Next time they do the MRI they would look at the areas closest to my eyes more closely if they think this is a problem. It is not likely a brain issue. It is probably the muscles around my eyes…due to getting old or perhaps due to chemo. It may be totally unrelated to cancer.

Who knows…it’s always a mystery as to how chemo affects the rest of the body.

Á la prochaine…until next time.